Syndicate: Fw

[Melentie Pandilovski <mpandil@soros.org.mk>]

Forwarded by Melentie Pandilovski <mpandil@soros.org.mk>
Subject: MCIC Daily Update from 21st April
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 16:41:08 +0200
Organization: MCMS/MCIC
X-Mailer: Microsoft Internet E-mail/MAPI - 8.0.0.4211
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

MACEDONIAN CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
DAILY UPDATE
       ON SITUATION IN MACEDONIA         Wednesday, April 21, 1999


EXCERPT
...Macedonian ground can not be used for strikes against the  neighbouring 
countries.... No bigger changes in refugee passings from Kosovo yesterday 
afternoon ..... 100.000 Kosovo Albanians can be expected in the next 10 
days at the Macedonian border.....Schools are organised at the refugee 
camps.....UNHCR is preparing the vaccination of the children up to 5 years 
in the camps....

SECURITY SITUATION
"Macedonian ground can not be used for strikes against the  neighbouring 
countries, including Yugoslavia", stated last night  Macedonian Minister of 
External Affairs in Bonn. According to Royters, The Minister said that 
"Those actions would lead to even bigger blood sheering and victims". 
Pointing out that Macedonia needs immediate help for handling the refugees, 
he said that Macedonia can not shelter more than 20.000 new refugees, 
because there are already 160.000 in the country.
REFUGEES
There are no bigger changes in refugee passings to Macedonian territory 
>from Kosovo yesterday afternoon. Our team has noticed only one bus on the 
passing Blace, with about 70 refugees, headed to the camp Stenkovec.
In the World Food Programme Agency say that nearly 100.000 Kosovo Albanians 
can be expected in the next 10 days at the Macedonian, Albanian and border 
of Montenegro, says Royters.
Air-bridge
Spain stated that will shelter 8.000 Kosovo refugees these days.
Camps
The preparation of the new camp in Chegrane near Gostivar, is in 
processing. About 15.000 refugees will be sheltered there. The tents are 
not placed yet. The ground foundation and infrastructure are in preparation 
now.
The following NGOs will be active in the camp: OXFAM(watersupply), 
MCIC/NCP(sanitation), CARE(food and organisation of the camp) and 
MSF(health protection).
In the transit center that is being built at Blace, OXFAM will take care of 
the water, MSF-Holland of sanitation, and the tents will be provided by 
Swiss Disaster Relief. As we are informed, this centre will have capacity 
of 2-5.000 persons.
Schools are organised at the refugee camps, where refugee-teachers are 
teaching. There are this kind of schools in Stenkovec and Neproshteno.
Today, German NATO troops are handing over the camp Neproshteno near Tetovo 
to NGOs.
So, all the camps in Macedonia are under the NGOs competence..

ACTIVITIES
MCIC
Today, the teams of NCA and MCIC are in Chegrane, where new refugee camp is 
building. They will take over the constructing and equipping of the 
sanitation in the enabled  part of the camp, ready to accept the refugees. 
So far MCIC and NCA have taken care of the watersupplying and sanitation in 
Radusha and Bojane.
There are 15 toilets, 36 tubs, 6 washing points and special  suiridge 
system connected to the city canalisation. Installation  of 8 more toilets 
and 10 showers(besides the exiting 36-humanitarian help from Bulgaria) is 
in  processing.
In Bojane, 12 tabs and reservoir of 40.000 L are installed so far.
Other organisations
UNICEF is preparing a vaccination of the children up to 5 years old in the 
camps. It is expected that this action will start from April 26.
The CRS is proceeding with the daily distribution of the food in the camp. 
For the refugees hosted in the households in Macedonia monthly parcels have 
been distributed.
The Macedonian Red Cross  has delivered a written request to the Government 
to determine the status as humanitarian assisted persons also for the 
people citizens of FR Yugoslavia and R. Macedonia currently staying in 
Macedonia (Serbs and Romas )that, before the crisis, have place of 
permanent residence in FR Yugoslavia but out of Kosovo. These people are 
permanently asking for humanitarian help, but they don't have the equal 
rights as the humanitarian assisted persons coming from Kosovo, and there 
are not comprised in UNHCR programme. This initiative was presented by the 
part of the participants of the coordinative meeting of the NGOs that was 
held in MCIC.
A humanitarian assistance contract with "Inter-SOS" from Italy was signed 
by the Ministry of Labour and Social Politics. The donor for this 
humanitarian project " Food for 5.800 socially vulnerable families in 
Macedonia" is ECHO (the European Commission Humanitarian Office), and it 
will be effectuated in the next three months.
Today, a plane with 31 T humanitarian help from Russia should arrive on the 
Skopje airport. The plane IL-76 should bring tents, blankets, food and 
hygienic issues for the refugees. This will be handed over to UNHCR, stated 
the Russian Ministry of  Catastrophe Preventing.
It is expected that the American Congress will soon decide on delivering 
$45.5 million as  a direct help for the balance of payment because of the 
damages that Macedonia suffers due to the Kosovo crisis. Mr. Bryan Atwood, 
the manager of USAID, stated this.
The foundation " The future of Bulgaria" has handed over the help for the 
refugees from Kosovo worth 20 million DEM to the Macedonian Red Cross. The 
President of the Foundation is presently staying in Skopje.
According to the Belgrade agency "Fonet", a convoy of 16 trucks with 
humanitarian help went from Athens to Belgrade, yesterday. Thanks to the 
Greek-Serbian Friendship Society and to a dozen of other organisations, 
more than 250 T pharmaceutical and sanitation material, baby food and other 
products have been collected as a humanitarian help.

A story
Noted in Radusha refugee camp on Friday, April 16th, 1999.
Renata is Polish woman. Twenty years ago, Enver was in Poland on business. 
He came back together with her. They had a nice life in Kosovo Pole (a part 
of Kosovo). A flat, a car, 6 children... Two of their sons are married... 
One of them to a Polish woman... They are all here... Renata and Enver have 
three grandchildren... I asked him about his pension. "After 30 years 
working as a traffic engineer in the Railway Company, I have nothing even 
to hope for... I will never go back..."
They want to go to Poland in Hrubiesow, a small town near the Russian 
border.
To start a new life...
It wasn't easy for me to ask dark skinned Enver about his nationality, but 
I asked him anyway. We are on the Balcan, aren't we? It looks to me, as he 
was a Roma. " Muslim", he said, "Muslim and my native language is 
Albanian."
Renata joined the discussion and said that in the last 10 years she used to 
forbid her children and even her grandchildren to speak Albanian 
everywhere-home and on the street. I was afraid that they would 
unconsciously use it on the street and that they will be beaten up. Even, I 
was slapping  them sometimes when I heard them speaking Albanian...Only to 
protect them..."
They were lucky to get out of the train thanks to the fact that Enver knew 
some of the railway workers at the railway station General Jankovic..The 
other passengers were returned back to north. I told them that the train is 
again returned to General Jankovic today and that all the people have 
entered Macedonia.
The only thing that they want at this moment is to go to Poland as soon as 
they can. They have registered themselves but nevertheless they are not 
sure that their turn will come.
"I wonder why the citizens of Poland can not go there" said Renata.
They are asking me how can I help them. I don't know. Everything that I 
could do is to write in this story that Renata, a Polish citizen, is 
staying with her family in the camp Radusha near Skopje, in the tent No. 
33. They would like to go to Poland as soon as possible.


Nikola Parapunov bb   l   P.O. Box 835   l   91000 Skopje   l   Republika 
Makedonija
Tel.: 091/365 381    l    Faks: 091/365 298    l    E-mail: mcms@informa.mk 
   l   www.mcms.org.mk





------Syndicate mailinglist--------------------
 Syndicate network for media culture and media art
 information and archive: http://www.v2.nl/east/
 to unsubscribe, write to <syndicate-request@aec.at>
 in the body of the msg: unsubscribe your@email.adress